At least one person was killed in Venezuela on Monday when security forces tried to suppress protests against a disputed election result that brought President Nicolas Maduro to power for a third time, an NGO said.
Venezuelan security forces on Monday fired tear gas and rubber bullets at angry protesters challenging Maduro’s claimed re-election win, a decision disputed by the opposition and questioned by several other countries.
Thousands of people took to the streets in several areas of the capital, chanting “Azadi, Azaadi!” and “This government is about to fall!”
Some people tore and burned Maduro’s campaign posters on the streets.
Across the country, at least two statues of the late socialist icon Hugo Chavez, who led the country for more than a decade and handpicked Maduro as his successor, were toppled by protesters.
Alfredo Romero, head of a rights group called Foro Penal that specializes in political prisoner issues, said on Forum X that at least one person was killed and 46 others were arrested in post-election demonstrations in the northwestern Yaracuy state.
In Caracas, AFP saw members of the National Guard firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, some wearing motorcycle helmets and handkerchiefs tied over their faces for protection. Some responded by throwing stones.
Protests were reported even in the poorest areas of Caracas, which have been strongholds of support for Maduro and his socialist government. Gunfire was heard in some areas. Protests also took place elsewhere in Venezuela.
“We want freedom. We want Maduro to go. Maduro, go away!” Marina Sugay, a 42-year-old resident of the poor area of Caracas called Petare, told AFP.
Maduro, 61, attended a meeting on Monday in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) certified his re-election for a third six-year term until 2031.
He dismissed international criticism and doubts about the outcome of Sunday’s vote, claiming Venezuela was the target of an attempted “coup” of a “fascist and counter-revolutionary” nature.
But opposition leader Maria Corina Machado later told reporters that a review of available voting records so far showed clearly that the next president “will be Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia”, who took his place on the ballot after Maduro-backed courts barred him from running.
He said records showed González Urrutia had a “mathematically insurmountable” lead, with 6.27 million votes, while Maduro only had 2.75 million.
The elections were held amid widespread suspicions of fraud and allegations of political intimidation by the government.
Pollsters had predicted a landslide victory for the opposition.
On Monday morning, the CNE said Maduro had received 51.2 percent of the vote, while Gonzalez Urrutia had 44.2 percent.
The opposition objected to this, leading Attorney General Tarek William Saab to link Machado to an alleged cyber “attack” aimed at “adulterating” the results.
‘Another fraud’
This outcome has sparked concern and calls for a “transparent” process from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and several countries in Latin America.
The CNE did not give detailed details of the results.
Allied countries including China, Russia, and Cuba congratulated Maduro.
Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old former diplomat, acknowledged the deep dissatisfaction within society with the CNE’s results on Monday and vowed that “we will fight for our freedom.”
Machado assured Venezuelans that “world leaders” were validating the results, and called on families to attend “popular assemblies” taking place across the country on Tuesday to show support for a peaceful transfer of power.
Nine Latin American countries called for a “full review of the results in the presence of independent election observers” in a joint statement on Monday.
The US-based Carter Center, one of the few organisations allowed to bring observers into Venezuela, urged the CNE to immediately publish detailed polling station-level results.
Brazil and Colombia also urged a review of the data, while Chile’s president said the results were “hard to believe”.
Peru recalled its ambassador and Panama said it was suspending relations with Venezuela.
The Washington-based Organization of American States called an emergency meeting on Wednesday at the request of Argentina and other countries that have challenged the official election tally.
Caracas hit back on Monday, saying it was recalling its diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay because of “interventionist actions and statements.” It also suspended flights to Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Warning of ‘bloodshed’
Independent polls had predicted Sunday’s vote would end 25 years of “Chavismo,” the populist movement founded by Chavez.
Maduro has been at the helm of the oil-rich country since 2013. The past decade has seen its gross domestic product drop by 80 per cent, forcing more than 7 million of its 30 million citizens to flee.
He is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in an atmosphere of growing authoritarianism.
Before the election he had warned that there would be “bloodshed” if he lost.
Ballots were cast on machines that sent electronic votes directly to a centralized CNE database.
The machines printed paper receipts which were placed in a container and counted by hand as a backup measure to allow public scrutiny.
The opposition deployed approximately 90,000 volunteer election observers across the country.
Economic distress
Sunday’s election was the result of an agreement between the government and the opposition last year.
The deal led to the United States temporarily easing sanctions imposed after Maduro’s 2018 re-election, which dozens of Latin American and other countries dismissed as a sham.
The sanctions were reimposed after Maduro reneged on the agreed terms.
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but its production capacity has declined sharply in recent years.
Most Venezuelans survive on just a few dollars a month and suffer severe shortages of electricity and fuel.
Economic misery in the South American nation has been a major source of migration pressure to the southern border of the United States, where immigration is a major presidential election issue.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
